Or how do you know if a piece of e-learning content is any good?…….

The “bad rap” that e-learning gets from many learners and organisational leaders is often around the poor nature of the e-learning content that is offered.

The memories of the dark days of CBT – “Computer Based Training” and the fusion of this into the collective corporate memory has undoubtedly tarnished the term e-learning.

So, how do you go about assessing whether a piece of e-learning is any good, well if you are buying it of a reputable developer and they have followed a solid development process working with you, then it is quite likely that you will get a good piece of e-learning.

The ADDIE process…..Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate will in many cases produce a decent result, though we do have reservations about leaving the evaluation to the very end, we recommend a process of “Successive Approximation” that is one of continual evaluation.

However, there are so many courses and modules out there to chose from, and not all of us can afford to commission our own bespoke development project….so how do I know if the content I want to buy is any good…..

Well ask for a demo and evaluate it….

We would advise you use a defined evaluation methodology based on the work of Michael Allen called the “Objectives X Treatment Matrix”.

From this methodology we have developed an objective way of assessing how good an e-learning course really is. We have done this exercise for a number of clients and it produces an objective way of saying how good the content is…..you can actually score the content and it works.

This approach begins with developing and understanding the Objectives of the course and evaluating the e-learning context used in the course design and then involves looking closely at the e-learning activity designed into the course and likewise scoring that.

This is where you score the course against the learning objectives the course is setting…and seeing how it delivers…..

If the objectives are clear, the context appropriate and the activity well designed you will know that the course will meet your learning requirements as it will be engaging effective e-learning…..something we are all in favour of!